Hey ho, chart fans, let’s go. Statman John is indisposed today, and was last seen meandering along the seafront muttering “Plunkbat! They give me Plunkbat! I’ve a grand idea for a grand theft five five fi-diddly-fi fi whoopsadaisy down we go,” so I’m taking over for this week’s Steam charts. Seeing as he’s always griping about the charts being identical, I’m sure John will be infuriated to miss seeing how much Steam’s autumn sale changed things. Won’t you join for me a stroll down the hit parade? (more…)

There are more wonderful games being released on PC each month than ever before. In such a time of plenty, it’s important that you spend your time as wisely as possible. Thankfully, we’re here to help. What follows are our picks for the best PC games ever made. (more…)

Imagine what would happen if Plunkbat weren’t to be at number 1? Could anyone even cope any more? Has all of gaming started operating on this as a foundation, forgetting that it could, one day, not sell more copies than everything else? What if I’m writing this as a bluff because it’s not at number 1 this week? What if I just wrote that to imply the bluff even though there isn’t a bluff?! OH MY GOODNESS EVERYONE QUICKLY READ THIS NOW!

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Valve have launched a new way to vet players in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with the goal of matchmaking noble, respectable players with their peers. The new ‘Trust Factor’ matchmaking system considers a player’s behaviour across Steam in general as well as in CS:GO, trying to judge whether they’re likely to be a cheater, a smurf, or a straight-up jerk. Valve say the goal is to match players “who are likely to have a good experience playing together.” It’s an interesting expansion of Steam’s benevolent police state. (more…)

The continued clotting amalgamation of the Steam Charts, with CODWARs and AssCreed Oranges mysteriously occupying multiple spaces, is having frankly dangerous effects on the column. No The Witcher 3! No GTA V! And H1Z1 seems to have been entirely forgotten by the ages! What is a running joke to do? (more…)

Do you find solace through memetics? Which enormously popular game you like is also liked by lots of other people? What else might form the triangle of your desire? Cast aside your romantic delusions, and delve into the acquisitive mire that is the Steam Charts. (more…)

It’s hard to think of a map in a multiplayer FPS that’s more famous or popular than De_Dust2. Dave Johnston created the original version of Dust for Counter-Strike 1.0 way back in 2000, with Dust 2 coming out the following year. How many other levels are worthy of a sequel?

Valve recently gave the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive version of the map an overhaul, their goals being to improve readability, refine player movement and update the visuals. I had a quick chat with Dave to get his opinion on the changes.

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The iconic level De_dust2 has returned revamped to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive [official site], having been removed from the main playlists in February. This new version makes a few tweaks to how it plays and brings a fresh new look. Kiss that early ’10s murk and grime goodbye and welcome in this modern city. The new Dust2 hit test servers last week then fully, properly launched for everyone last night. (more…)

Wotcha gang. Your old chum Alice here for this week’s charts, as everyone else has been fired. Out of a cannon. Blown into a jillion little pieces. Hence the Apocalyptic yellow tone to the skies today. Hold your breath when outside, and hold your breath while we count down last week’s top ten of the top-selling games on Steam.

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Counter-Strike’s De_dust2 is surely one of the most-reproduced levels in video games, remade and reinterpreted and parodied by fans across dozens of different games. Yet another one is coming our way soon, though this one is official. An “updated” and “refined” version of Dust2 is headed to the next test version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive [official site], Valve announced last night, “coming soon.” Dust 2 was removed from the regular rotation back in February, though not from the game entirely. Valve aren’t quite ready to reveal the extent of changes but do share a teensy peek. (more…)